Religious skepticism

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Religious skepticism is a type of skepticism relating to religion. Religious skeptics question religious authority and are not necessarily anti-religious but are those skeptical of a specific or all religious beliefs and/or practices. Some are deists, believing in a non-interventionist god(s) and rejecting mainstream religions. Socrates was one of the first religious skeptics of whom we have records; he questioned the legitimacy of the beliefs of his time in the existence of the various gods. He was also an avowed opponent of sophism.